REGIONAL OFFICES . . . (404) .52.9.2.19.9 ATLANTA Walker L. Knight, Editorl161 Spring Street, N. W.lAtianta, Georgw .9mhmIT~2Ie1P4)hoRnle1 1996 . . . 'Id' ID II T xa. 7520llTelep ane I' • July 11, 1966 DALLA. R. T. McCartney, Edl/fJrl/O.1 BaptISt RUI lag a as, e.. ,• )()()2lTele hane (202) .544-4226 WA.IoIINGlTON W. Barry Garrett. Editorl21}/) Maryland Ave., N.E.IWashlagton, D.C. 2( P Alaska Elects Hunke Executive Secretary ~- ANCHORAGE, Alaska (BP)~~The Alaska Baptist Convention hal named Edmund William Hunke Jr. of Phoenix, Ariz., as the convention's third executive secretary. Hunke has served for the past seven years as assistant executive secretary and state missions superintendent for the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention in Phoenix. He was elected the top administrative officer of the Alaska convention by the state's Executive Board, according to an announcement from J. T. Burdine of College, Alaska, chair­ man of the administrative committee charged with selecting a new executive secretary.

Hunke, who assumeS the position Sept. 1, will succeed William H. Hanlen, who resigned as the convention's second executive secretary in April to become pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church in Anchorage. As executive secretary for Alaska Baptists, Hunke will supervise the cooperative work of 34 Baptist churches and 14 missions in Alaska. He will also edit the convention's monthly publication, the Alaska Baptist Messenger. There are about 7,600 Baptists in churches affiliated with the convention, m st of them in the two major population centers of Fairbanks and Anchorage.

During the past 12 years, Hunke has served the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention in four positions. He joined the staff in 1954 as an area missionary, became director of the convention's stewardship department in 1957, was named superintendent of missions and stewardship in 1958, an~ became state missions superintendent and assistant to Executive Secretary Charles L. McKay in 19S9. Previously, Hunke was pastor of the First Baptist Church, Vernal, Utah; Pittsburg Baptist Church, Pittsburg, Calif.; and First Southern Baptist Church, Clovis, Calif.

He is a graduate of Fresno State College, Fresno, Calif.; Pacific Bible Institute in Fresno; and Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, Mill Valley, Calif. He also attended Baylor University, Waco, Tex.; Southwest Missouri State College, Springfield, Mo.; the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and the University of Illinoi8. Campaign,

Hunke, 42,was born in Taylor, Tex., and was reared in Waco, Tex., where he attended public schools. He served in the Army Air Force during World War 11, becoming a Christian and deciding to enter the ministry while a serviceman. He and his wife, Naomi Ruth, have three children: Dixie Lynn, 18, a student at Grand Canyon College (Baptist) in Phoenix; Jonathan David, 14, and Jimmy Paul, 12.

The family will move from sunny Arizona to Anchorage, Alaska, where the convention has its headquarters. Dixie will remain at Grand Canyon College, Hunke said.

Allen Meeks, religious education secretary for the Alaska convention, has been serving as interim executive secretary between the administrations of Hansen and Hunke.

-30- Photo to be mailed to state Baptist papers

CORRECTION: On story mailed July 6, headlined "40,000 Decisions Made in Graham London Meet," please add the correct final figures, unavailable at time story was sent, on attendance and number of decisions. Graph 6 should read:

"Final count on attendance was 1,055,368. Total number of "decisions for Christ" during the month-long crusade was reported at 42,487."

Also, in graph 2, change it to "more than" one million, instead of "nearly" one million as sent. Thanks. --- .. • July 11, 1966 2 Baptist Press Garrett Calls Young Religionists Disturbed

By Tobie Druin

WACO, Tex. (BP)--A Baptist professor of theology said at Baylor University that the "death of God" movement reflects the disturbed state of mind of the younger religionists in the United States, branding the movement 8S lacking in biblical and historical depth.

James Leo Garrett, professor of theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, spoke to a group of pastors and educators attending the Baylor Ministers Con­ ference in Bible and Theology.

Garrett said many have tried to explain the "God is dead" advocates as men reacting to neo-orthodoxy.

"I think it is much deeper," he said. "We are coming to a period when this kind of thing comes to the surface because it is de~p-rooted, because thexe is a great deal of un­ rest and anxiety and a considerable degree of unbelief. "It is not just a reaction alone to certain theological movements of the past. I think it reflects the disturbed state of mind of the younger religionists in our country.

"I think we can see that the 'death of God' movement lacks the biblical and historical depth that is needed for any adequate Christian theology. 1 don't think any Christian theology is wOTth its salt unless it has its rootage in the Bible and the Christian church."

Garrett outlined the writings and theology of the principal "death of God" advocates such as Paul M. Van Buren, William Hamilton, and Thomas J. J. Altizer.

He emphasized the writings of Altizer, professor at Emory University in Atlanta.

Altizer, he said, has stated that there is a need for "a forthright confession of the death of the God of Christendom, a full acknowledgment that the era of Christian civiliza­ tion has come to an end."

He quoted Altizer as having said: "We must recognize that the death of God is an historical event, that God has died in our time and our history and our existence."

'~hen pressed for when God died and under what circumstances, Altizer has not been so explicit," Garrett added.

"President Duke McCall (president of Southern Seminary) has described these men in a recent editorial," Garrett said: "Hamilton as an unhappy agnostic, Van Buren as a happy atheist and Altizer as a confused Buddhist."

"I wouldn't dispute the labels," Garrett said, "but we're going to have to do more than label; we're going to have to come to this critical period with a more positive word which I feel we can bring to our age."

-30-

Eight Professors Plan 7/11/66 Seminary Study Leaves

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--Eight professors at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary here have been granted sabbatical or study leaves during the 1966-67 academic year.

Three will study at Oxford University in England: E. Glenn Hinson, associate professor of church history; Marvin E. Tate, associate professor of Old Testament interpretation; and E. JeTty Vardaman, associate professor of biblical archaeology.

Harold S. Songer, assistant professor of New Testament interepretation, will study under famed scholar Ernst Kaesemann at Tuebingen, Germany.

John Carlton, associate professor of preaching, will be at Union Theological Seminary in New York City.

~-more-- July 11, 1966 3 • Baptist Press Ernest J. Loessner, professor of religious education, will study at two campuses of the University of California and be guest lecturer at the Berkeley Divinity School and Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. Walter Delamarter, director of social work education, will study in the department of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania in the doctoral program there.

On a six-month study leave, Hugh McElrath, assistant professor of church music, will complete requirements for/doctoral degree at Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. a

Returning from 1965-66 sabbatical leaves are Kenneth Chafin, Billy Graham associate professor of evangelism, from Union Seminary in New York; David Mueller, associate professor of Christian theology, from Yale University; William Cromer, assistant professor of religious education, from Florida State University; W. Morgan Patterson, associate professor of church history, from Oxford; Page Kelley, associate professor of Old Testament interpretation, from Harvard; and Miss Elizabeth Hutchens, assistant professor of religious education, from a leave of absence spent at Union Seminary and Columbia University in doctoral study.

The seminary's faculty members are normally granted a year of study every seven years by the trustees. In addition, some who are working on special projects or advanced degrees take study leaves apart from normal sabbatical allowances.

-30-

Seminary to Establish 7/11/66 Radio Missions Training a NEW ORLEANS (BP)--New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary is setting up/Short Wave Radio Missions Training Center as a memorial to Air Force Sgt. Henry Webb Thomas because of his interest in overseas missionary activity and the training of students in church vocation fields.

Hts widow, Mrs. Ruth R. Thomas, is establishing the memorial with a $2,000 cash gift and approximately $1,000 worth of short wave radio equipment used by her husband.

Between tours of military duty, Sgt. Thomas was 8 well-known New Orleans "ham" radio operator and active New Orleans Baptist layman.

Plans call for the short wave radio center at the seminary to be used to maintain con­ tact with overseas missionaries and to train students as amateur radio operators. Many of the students are foreign missions volunteers.

The station will also be available for churches to establish contacts with foreign missionaries. Tape recordings of interviews and conversations will be made for use in church services.

Thomas, a communications specialist, enlisted in the Army at the age of 18 during World War I. He served in the Army Air Corps during World War II, and was in the Air Force Reserves before being recalled to active duty during the Korean conflict.

He remained in the Air Force until his death, Aug. 8, 1965, only a few hours before he was scheduled for retirement.

During one of his many overseas tours, he was ordained a deacon while a member of the Tokyo Baptist Church in Japan. His widow said that the last thing he wrote before his sudden death was a $200 check for a Baptist church near Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, where he was stationed.

-30-

Two Baptist Colleges 7/11/66 Get Education Grants

WASHINGTON (BP)--Two Baptist-affiliated universities have been named to receive federal grants to strengthen their graduate education programs for public school teachers.

Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia, Ark., and Stetson University, DeLand, Fla., were listed among 123 colleges and universities to receive federal grants for programs to begin the academic year starting next year, according to the U.S. Office of Education here.

--more-- •

July 11, 1966 4 Baptist Press Ouachita, affiliated ~ith the Arkansas Baptist Convention, ~as awarded $19,050. Stetson, a private Baptist school ~hich receives financial aid from the Florida Baptist Convention, is to get $30,000.

Purpose of both grants is to help strengthen graduate education programs for elementary and secondary school teachers. The awards were made under the Higher Education Act of 1965.

A total of 17 church-related institutions among the 123 were slated to receive the grants according to the Office of Education announcement.

Among the other church-related schools receiving these grants, 10 are Roman Catholic, two are Methodist, and one each are of Friends, Jews, and Presbyterians.

Twenty-five other institutions were recommended for support, but funds for them were not available this fiscal year. Requests totaled approximately $9 million, but only $5 million was available.

-30-